Category: Books

In the Mail: Theater of Spies.

Theater of Spies is SM Stirling’s latest book set in a world where Teddy Roosevelt ended up winning the 1912 election and is now fighting an even more awful World War I against an exceedingly more awful Germany. Very much a technothriller, only all the cutting-edge tech is from the Twenties and Thirties. It’s an entertaining series, not least because Stirling is having fun tweaking everybody’s noses by having the USA be run by Teddy Roosevelt’s version of the Progressives instead of Woodrow Wilson’s.

Been waiting a while to read this.

Rivers of London series picked up by Stolen Picture.

Oh, nice.

Continue reading Rivers of London series picked up by Stolen Picture.

“‘Salem’s Lot” coming to the big screen.

‘Salem’s Lot has gone to the small screen twice, as a miniseries: I remember the first one. Well, actually, I remember that it sucked. Although I may be remembering a different miniseries that sucked, since it was done in 1979 and I was busy being nine at the time. Anyway, they’re making an actual movie.

Stephen King’s vampire novel Salem’s Lot is heading to the big screen.

James Wan and Gary Dauberman, the respective producer and writer collaborators behind many of the biggest hits of theConjuring horror universe, are teaming to adapt the novel for New Line.  

Dauberman will write the script and serve as executive producer. Wan will produce, along with Roy Lee and Mark Wolper.

Continue reading “‘Salem’s Lot” coming to the big screen.

From the Archives: selected poetry.

My SCA barony is doing a demo this weekend, and they needed stuff to show off for the tables. So I went looking for some of my old poetry, and found a bunch of things from 2009 that I put up. I flatter myself that they’re still holding up pretty well, and since I had to put them in print-friendly form anyway… well, here they are.

Continue reading From the Archives: selected poetry.

Book of the Week: Chain of Command.

Baen just released Frank Chadwick’s military SF Chain of Command in paperback, so I thought that I’d check it out. Good stuff: straightforward thrust-into-the-limelight space combat that had the grace to finish up the story without forcing the need for a sequel. Not that I have any objections to series, but it’s nice sometimes to read a book that can rise or fall on its own.

The Atlantic gets the ‘record’ hilariously wrong on Aragorn, son of Arathorn.

Didn’t read the books, huh, Richards?

Imagine a man, one who lives in a stretch of vaguely frightening forest somewhere up north. And imagine that he wants to be your benevolent dictator. His pitch: Remove the current leadership. Destroy a neighboring nation and kill its populace. Then, conquer most of the continent. And somewhere in there, he’d also like to restore traditional values to the country, whatever that means. And he says he gets to do so because, 40 generations ago, some of his ancestors were in charge. His name is Aragorn, and he’s the good guy.

Continue reading The Atlantic gets the ‘record’ hilariously wrong on Aragorn, son of Arathorn.

Book of the Week: The Lost War.

Just started reading it today: Karl Gallagher laid a review copy upon my unworthy hands, and so far it goes well. The basic premise of The Lost War is Let’s send a SCA event to a medieval fantasy setting! and seeing what happens then. And, I must admit: I myself have often wondered what would actually happen. Plus, it’s got a blurb from Duke Sir Cariadoc of the Bow, which is sufficiently gold that I may end up mentioning the book at the baronial meeting this weekend.

It’s a SCAdian thing, yeah.